The influence of community related factors on ICT integration in management of public secondary schools in Kitui County, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of community related factors in the integration of information and communication technology in the management of public secondary schools in Kitui County, Kenya. A descriptive survey research design and mixed method approach were used in this study. The study was carried out in 58 public secondary schools in Kitui County that have functional ICT infrastructure. This study used sample size table as proposed by Krejcie and Morgan (1970) and Peter (2005) whereby 58 principals, 58 senior teachers and 266 assistant teachers from schools that have functional ICT infrastructure were selected. All 16 Sub-county Directors of Education and one County Director of Education were selected for the study. The researcher used questionnaires to collect data from principals, senior teachers and assistant teachers while interview schedule was used to collect data from Sub-county Directors and the County Director of Education in Kitui County. The collected data was analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative data analysis approaches whereby both descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The findings of the study indicated that the government was the major source of the computers that were in schools. The study revealed that (48% and 44%) of the senior teachers and principals had received 11 to 15 computers respectively from the government. Majority (67.2%) of the respondents pointed out that the community supported more on security. Results from chi-square test also shows that there is a significant association (χ2 (1, 4) = 49.444, p< 0.05) between community support and ICT integration. Results from chi-square test also indicate that there is a significant association (χ2 (1, 4) = 50.411, p< 0.05) between school security and ICT integration.